Tredje AP fonden Has $48.31 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Tredje AP fonden raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,382 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 18,067 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Linde were worth $48,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 50.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 249 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,736 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $453.26. 2,213,363 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,370,762. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $447.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $455.12. The company has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $501.82.

About Linde

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.